Just ordered a X1800XT any tips?

gunner · 26 Jun 2006 at 19:17

I have just splurged on a X1800Xt from OcUk. Great price. Any tips? or tricks advised. I'm upgrading from a X800GTO.

Thanks, Gunner.

sablabra · 26 Jun 2006 at 19:24

gunner said:
I have just splurged on a X1800Xt from OcUk. Great price. Any tips? or tricks advised. I'm upgrading from a X800GTO.

Thanks, Gunner.

you want oc tricks or be a bit more specific...

nbkpsycho · 26 Jun 2006 at 19:58

Nope he wants tips on how he can use it as a frisby mate

Jokester · 26 Jun 2006 at 22:51

ATItool is all you really need to be honest and then just use 3dMark of some description to see what improvement in performance you're getting.

Jokester

Minstadave · 26 Jun 2006 at 23:13

Pinched from one of my earlier posts:

I've tried most options available to clock my X1800XT 512MB:

1. ATI Tool 0.25 Beta 14
2. RivaTuner
3. Overclocker X1K
4. Catalyst control centre
5. Other (BIOS flash)

ATI Tool:

-Used the latest Beta 14 version
-Clocks ok, artifact detector seems to work for me, but errors very early.
-Sometimes cause system hang when switching from 2D to 3D clocks and back.
-Causes system hang on switch to 3D clocks when starting BF2 with Cat 6.5s, works fine with 6.3s
-ALLOWS VOLTAGE CONTROL

RivaTuner

-Great hardware monitor
-Clocks my card fine when I turn off enable overdive in the MORE section on the overclocking tab
-Seems to give me errors at lower clocks, may have to do with memory timings
-No voltage options
-2D/3D seperation can be achieved by using profiles for individual applications. There is also an option for Overdrive clocking, but this simply caused my clocks not to change in 3D mode when I tried it with the Omega 6.3s. Will try with the 6.5s and report back.

Overclocker X1K

-Tried briefly, simply alters clock speeds.
-IIRC it allows core voltage adjustment, but memory didn't work on mine.
-Slackens memory timings for 3D clocks

Catalyst Control Centre

-Trying it now with 6.5s
-Only allows upto 690 Core 800 Memory
-Smooth 2D/3D switch, hasn't caused me any lock ups yet
-No voltage options
-There are rumours of discrepancies between the clocks set in the CCC and the actual clocks achieved.

Others:

BIOS flash -> tried flashing my card to X1800XT PE, only works with 512mb cards, but is very simple to do and is done via windows.

Was getting slight memory errors so flashed back.
Boosts clocks to 700/800 iirc, and ups core voltage slightly, should be fine on air as the real Sapphire X1800XT PEs use the same cooler and are identical apart from clocks.

Tips:

It seems memory voltage can often to be REDUCED to get better clocks on the memory, I found that reducing MVDDC from its 2.097 stock to as little as 1.825V continued to give me gains on memory clocks. I'm not the only person to have found this though the sweet spot is different for others, and the memory on my card sucks, it can't do 800Mhz without artifacts so far.

Psycho Sonny · 27 Jun 2006 at 01:12

change your pci frequency from 100 to 105 mhz in the bios, i found that it makes the memory much more stable and you can overclock much higher on both core and memory

sablabra · 27 Jun 2006 at 01:24

Psycho Sonny said:
change your pci frequency from 100 to 105 mhz in the bios, i found that it makes the memory much more stable and you can overclock much higher on both core and memory

Yup, I increased to 110mhz

Foehammer2003 · 27 Jun 2006 at 01:39

yeah 105 here, and it made a big difference to my card clocking ability!

TaKeN · 27 Jun 2006 at 07:26

I will raise my PCI Frequency tonight and see if it improves my 3dmark score by 3-5 points

Vegeta · 27 Jun 2006 at 11:39

Minstadave said:
-Sometimes cause system hang when switching from 2D to 3D clocks and back.

Just a wee tip for ya mate, sometimes it may hang for you when you switch between 2d/3d clocks because you have a webpage with a animation open or a video open, close anything visual on your desktop when switching clocks.

gunner · 27 Jun 2006 at 13:21

thanks for the tips guys I will try them tomorrow when the card arrives. I'll let you know how I get on!

Darkwave · 27 Jun 2006 at 13:58

Psycho Sonny said:
change your pci frequency from 100 to 105 mhz in the bios, i found that it makes the memory much more stable and you can overclock much higher on both core and memory

I'm going to try this when I've caught up on some sleep. Can anyone give me a rough guess as to how many 3D Marks they gained through this method in '05 and '06?

Psycho Sonny · 27 Jun 2006 at 16:53

Úlfhednar said:
I'm going to try this when I've caught up on some sleep. Can anyone give me a rough guess as to how many 3D Marks they gained through this method in '05 and '06?

you do not gain any points you gain stability with higher lock speeds, therefore increasing your overclocks, therefore increasing your score simply changing the frequency wont do anything as far as im aware

Psycho Sonny · 27 Jun 2006 at 16:54

TaKeN said:
I will raise my PCI Frequency tonight and see if it improves my 3dmark score by 3-5 points

does changing the frequency alone do anything?

k3v · 27 Jun 2006 at 16:57

isn't the first tip to check that its new and in a sealed box........

TaKeN · 27 Jun 2006 at 17:26

k3v said:
isn't the first tip to check that its new and in a sealed box........

The thread might get removed :rolleyes:

Foehammer2003 · 28 Jun 2006 at 15:01

Psycho Sonny said:
does changing the frequency alone do anything?

No imo, Just makes for a more stable overclock, or in my case allowed me to have an overclock where before i was unable due to lock ups and reboots.

Psycho Sonny · 28 Jun 2006 at 15:20

im currently using 105mhz will 110 mhz give me a much better chance of overclocking successfully, at 105 mhz my x1800xt overclocked to max with ATI overdrive buy my x1900xt which was said to be an amazing overclocker doesnt budge on the memory and the temps go way high

Darkwave · 28 Jun 2006 at 15:21

TaKeN said:
The thread might get removed

He's got a fair point though.